Penang Times Square

Penang Times Square is an ongoing urban redevelopment project in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It is located at Dato Keramat Road in the city centre, and comprises office blocks, condominiums, a shopping mall and an outdoor plaza. Developed by Ivory Properties Group, at present, the first two phases have been completed, while Phases 3, 4 and 5 are still in the works.[1]

Penang Times Square

In 2016, a new shopping mall, M Mall O2O, was also opened as part of Phase 2 of the Penang Times Square project.[2]

History

Up until the late 20th century, the site was once a tin smelting plant owned by Eastern Smelting, which was formed in 1897.[3][4] Tin was imported from Perak and southern Thailand to be smelted into ingots for re-export via the Port of Penang.

The decline of Malaysia's tin industry led to the closure of the tin smelting facility. The area was then acquired by Ivory Properties Group and the Penang Times Square project, which consisted of five phases, began in 2005.[5][6]

As of 2016, Phases 1 and 2 have been completed. As part of Phase 2, M Mall O2O was officially launched in 2016.[2] The remaining three phases are expected to be completed by 2020.[1][5][7]

Shopping

Birch the Plaza

Phase 1 of Penang Times Square includes a shopping mall housed within Birch the Plaza, a podium block that also consists of offices and commercial lots. The shopping mall itself covers the first three floors within the block.

The mall contains restaurants, fashion boutiques, nail parlours, beauty salons and electronic stores, in addition to a handful of nightclubs.[8][9] Its 'Food Gallery' also offers a variety of local hawker fare.

It was reported that Birch the Plaza was being given a RM10 million facelift by Ivory Properties in 2016 to improve its tenancy rate.

M Mall O2O
M Mall O2O

The newest shopping mall in George Town was the retail component of Phase 2 of the Penang Times Square project. Opened in 2016, the mall's latest attractions include Penang's first wax museum, various wall artwork and cultural-themed 'streets' at each of the mall's four floors.[2]

As with Birch the Plaza, M Mall O2O has a variety of restaurants, electronic stores and personal care retail outlets.

References
  1. "Ivory targets completion of Penang Times Square by 2020 | theSundaily". www.thesundaily.my. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  2. "Queen graces opening of mall at Penang Times Square - Community | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  3. Khoo, Salma Nasution (2007). Streets of George Town, Penang. Penang: Areca Books. ISBN 9789839886009.
  4. "Penang Times Square". Time Out Penang. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  5. "Milestone". ivory.com.my. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  6. "Penang Times Square, new landmark - Business News | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  7. "Ivory Properties counting on Penang Times Square, WorldCity for better FY16". www.theedgeproperty.com.my. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  8. "Top 10 Shopping Malls In Penang - Best places to shop in Penang". penang.ws. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  9. "Directory". www.penangtimessquare.com. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.